Process for the manufacture of macaroni, &amp;c.



M. E. KRAYBILL.

PROCESS FOR vTHE MANUFAOIURE 0F MACARONI, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 2, [9|]- IateutedNov. 26, 1918.

MARTIN E. KRAYBILL, 0F BOILING SPRINGS, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS FOR. THE MANUFACTURE OF MACARON'I, 850.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application filed November 2, 1917 Serial No. 199,916.

To all whom c't may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN E. KRAYBILL, a citizen of the United States, residin at Boiling Springs, in the county of Cum erland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for the Manufacture of Macaroni, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a method or process for manufacturing and handling pastry, such, for instance, as pastry which is manufactured in the form of strips or strands from a suitable dough.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improved method or process for manufacturing pastry of this type, as for example, manufacturing macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, and the like, with the object of economizing in the amount of material used and in preventing loss or waste by enabling the recovery of the trimmings, and providing for their return to the press or batch sothat it may again be fed through the press.

It is another object of the present invention to improve the facility with which a batch of strands of macaroni or the like may be taken from a press, arranged in a sheet to be laid upon a working surface where the sheet may be subdivided into sections of requisite length, and further to provide for the packing and arrangement of the cut sections of the strands in such manner that the drying of the sections may be permitted with rapidity and with little loss of material by reason of the prevention of molding.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method or process for handling the macaroni or other material being treated in a series of successive steps from the press at which the strands are expressed from a batch and arranged in suitable forms to facilitate the gaging of the sections into desired length, and to further provide for the facile manner in which these may be stacked upon suitable absorbent sheets and these layers comprising sheets of material and strands of macaroni, etc., arranged in trays which are of such characteristics as to provide for the free circulation of air through the superimposed layers comprising the absorbent material and the layer of strands of macaroni.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the method or process hereinafter more fully described and which may be practised by the use of suitable apparatus, the structural elements of which are illustrated in one embodiment in the several diagrammatic views, in which:

Figure 1 shows a system or arrangement of devices employed in the practice of the process.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one type of tray or receiver which may be utilized.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another form of receiver or drying tray which may be utilized.

Fig. 4 shows diagrammatically the arrangement of a single layer of strands of macaroni -on the transfer roller, and also shows a plurality of layers of vermicelli or spaghetti arranged on the transferring roller.

The present method or process of working upon or manufacturing pastry material in the form of macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli or the like involves the collection of a suitable quantity or batch of strands of macaroni, for instance as they are expressed from a press P, Fig. 1, these strands being gathered as they reach a certain or given length, for instance, slightly over six feet, by an operator who collects the strands in a batch in folded relation over one arm, and conveys this batch of strands to a suitable support. This support preferably is in the form of a roller 6 which is removably supported upon the uprights 4 of a suitable and appropriate form of truck 2. The operator transfers the draped or folded hank or batch of macaroni from his arm to a position over the roller, as shown in Fig. 1, in which they are draped in equal lengths on each side of the roller, and while so disposing the batch on the roller, oscillates the latter slightly to and fro so as to cause the indivldual strands of the batch to spread out in a uni form thickness across the length of the top of the roller. Having done this, another operator may lift the folded roller from its support 4: through any suitable means whereby it may be transferred to a table or bench illustrated as involving a top or working surface 21 upon which the sheeted batch of macaroni is adapted to be laid.

Preferably the device which the operator uses to transfer the roller 6 from its support 4 to the bench'or top 21 comprises a yoke shaped member 10 having a handle 13 with an intermediate or cross bar 13 which is so disposed that when the transferring device 10 is inclined to a certain angle the draped material on each side of the roller 6 will swing against one surface of the cross or locking bar and thereby is prevented from rolling with the roller and being accidentally displaced therefrom. The yoke 10 has end arms 11 which are provided with suitable seats or slots to receive the spindles projecting from the end of the roller 6. When the operator lifts the roller 6 with its burden by means of the transferring device 10 he carries the latter toward the bench or table top 21, which latter is shown as provided with an end roller 22 against which the front han ing portion of the folded sheet of macaroni resting on the roller 6 may be disposed as illustrated in dotted lines, then by moving the roller 6 in a transverse position longitudinally along the top of the table the draping of macaroni strands will be drawn up over the roller 22 until about one-half of the length of the sheet is superimposed upon the table, and then the operator so turns the handle 13 of the roller carrying device 10 as torelease the remaining portion of the macaroni strands trailing behind the roller, and by continuing the advancing movement of the roller 6 along the top of the bench or table 21 the entire sheet of macaroni is then spread out lengthwise and flat upon the top or working surface of the table or bench.

Preferably in the practice of my process I providea stack or bundle of sheets as 36 of absorbent material or paper, these sheets being arranged by the operator or attendant at the table in suitable order in successive position therealong in single ply or more to act as a foundation upon'Whicht-he sheet of macaroni strands is to be a plied by the movement of the roller 6 over the top of the surface of the sheets after these are laid on the table. If the strands of macaroni forming the batch as taken from the press P are about six feet or a little over in length, these may be cut into sections of any suitable length, as, for instance, into sections or;.pieces nine inches long, and to provide for this gaging of the length of the sections 1 .provide a suitable form of gage frame which comprises a series of transverse blades 30, a. suitable number of which are applied to the frame 26 and each of the blades 30 are, spaced in parallel position at suitable pitch from each other edgewise.

After a layer or sheet of macaroni has been placed on the absorbent paper on the table the frame 26 carrying the gage blades 30 is moved down into position above the layer of strands and then the operator or attendant at the table passes a suitable cutter, as a circular gutter 32,'along the parallel' edges of the gage blades 30 thereby severing the macaroni strands into the given lengths.

From the above it will be seen that as a sheet or layer of the arranged strands of macaroni carried by the transferring roller 6 is advanced to the end of the table 21 the front hanging portion of the draping of macaroni may be advanced against the roller 22 and then when the roller (3 is passed over the top of the table the hanging portion resting against the roller 22 on the table will cause the latter to rotate so that the depending ends of the strands may be drawn upward freely and without material resistance over the roller which will rotate under the pressure of the strands bearing thereon.

By providing the gage and guiding frame 26- with a suitable number of gage blades 30 it will be seen that the operator can quickly, readily and efficiently sever the entire sheet of macaroni strands by transverse lines of cut obtained through the movement of the cutter. 32 along the guiding edges of the blade .30, and all of the sec tions will be of uniform length and evenly disposed upon the layers or foundation of absorbent material or paper resting on the table surface. The only waste that occurs in this system of cutting strands, which are six feet or over in length, into shorter pieces is such an amount as may be left at the extreme ends of the full length of the strands, these waste pieces or trimmings being collected by the operator and deposited in suitable receptacles 33 which are removably mounted upon a bracket or shelf structure 35 disposed below the too of the table 21. At that end of the table top 21 upon which the anti-friction roller 22 is mounted the table is provided with a throat 3 1 through which the end trimmings adjacent the first blade may be readily discharged onto an apron or hopper 34 leading into the lower receptacle 33 thereat. The excess collected in the receptacles 33 is returned to the miX- ing bench to be again sent through the press and thus waste is avoided.

A-further feature of the present process involves the arrangement of thecut sections of macaroni in suitable trays upon which they may be transferred either directly to a store room or drying apparatus in which the trays may be stacked or arranged to facilitate the drying of the macaroni, from which trays the layers of macaroni may be transferred to othershelves 0r trays arranged suitably, as, for instance, in stacks, indicated at 40. Therefore, after the operator has severed the sheet of macaroni on the table 21 into the given number of sections, she or he then draws one of the pieces of paper or absorbent material 36, which has been laid upon the table, therefrom and deposits it on a tray 41, Fig. 2, in which there are provided marginal members 42 of suitable height, these being transversely connected by slats or broad bottom sections 43, preferably spaced at their parallel edges to provide apertures or perforations for the entrance and eXit of air. Preferably within the marginal side members or rails 42 there are provided slightly elevated shoulders or cleats 44, the function of which is to turn or bend upwardly the marginal portion of a sheet of paper or material 36 laid thereon, and carrying the layer of macaroni sections which have been cut at the table 21. Upon this layer of sections on a tray 41 there is then applied another piece of absorbent material acting as a cover for the macaroni to prevent the too rapid evaporation of the moisture therein anddrying of the macaroni sections, the object of this being to guard the pieces of macaroni against the action of air along the edges of the layer which would cause the sections of macaroni to bend and crack by their too sudden drying. If only one layer of macaroni and its foundation of absorbent paper or material is applied to a tray 41 then a suitable number of these trays may be accumulated at the work bench or table 21 upon a truck T and the latter removed to a storing or drying room in which the trays 41 are removed from the truck T and arranged in stacks or otherwise disposed of to facilitate the movement of air about the trays so as to effect the drying of the macaroni layer thereon.

In some instances it may be desirable to accumulate several composite layers of absorbent material and their burden of out sections of macaroni upon a tray 41 on the truck T at the cutting bench until a suitable number of the trays have been filled and accumulated when these latter should be removed to a drying room and the multiple layers of macaroni and their absorbent sheets individually removed from a tray and severally isolated from each other by arrangement in respective trays 41 which could be arranged, for instance, in the stack 40. This transferal of a foundation sheet and its burden of cut macaroni sections to a tray 41 in the stack 40 may be facilitatedby the use of a suitable spade or shovel illustrated with relation to the stack 40 and comprising a series of prongs 50 adapted to be inserted between the layers on a tray 41 at the truck T and whereby a single layer could be transferred to another tray 41 in the stack 40.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a somewhat modified form of tray 41 in which the bottom is formed of a series of stretches of rope or cord 41 rove transversely and longitudinally through the side members of the frame to form a light and open-Work receiver or device upon which is laid a composite layer comprising the absorbent material or paper with the interposed or superimposed layer of green macaroni, these trays in the form illustrated in Fig. 3 being centrally divided by a partition 41 thus providing two compartments or sections one adjacent each end to receive a piece of absorbent paper or foundation material with its load of the cut macaroni. To provide for the free circulation of air about and through a stack of the form of trays illustrated in Fig. 3 there is attached to the bottom of each of these trays a set of transverse cleats or braces 41 of suitable height and length so that each tray is superposed a distance equal to the thickness of the transverse cleat 41 above the next and thereby forms a series of passageways between the frames of the trays through which air may readily pass.

It is to be understood that while in the specification preceding the process has been described as defining its steps when such material as macaroni, spaghetti or the like is to be treated, and that these terms are not used in the sense of limitation but merely for the purpose of illustration and designation, and that this process may be utilized in the manufacture or handling of any pastry susceptible to the steps herein described. It is also to be understood that while the material taken from the press P may be laid in a layer on a single ply upon the roller 6 that it may also be laid in a layer of multiple plies, this being determined obviously by the nature of the material and the size of the strands being handled in the process, for instance, in handling macaroni it is preferable that only a sin 1e layer or single ply of strands in a batch e arranged on the roller, and transferred to the table 21 where they are severed into subdivided sections, but while treating vermicelli and spaghetti, these being of smaller diameter in the strands than macaroni, it is possible to lay layers of multiple ply both upon the roller 6 and also upon the cutting table or top 21.

Another feature of my process is to subject the material at the cutting table to a forced current of air as by means of a fan F. The purpose of this is to facilitate drying of the paste.

It is obvious that the lengths of the sections into which the macaroni laid on the table 21 is to be cut may be varied as determined by the width of the gage plates or blades 30, and if it is desired to out these sections into pieces nine inches long then the cutter will be run along each edge of the guide blades 30 whereas if it is intended to cut them into sections eighteen inches long,

then the knife or cutter would be run along only one side of the blades Which are eighteen inches apart along the table.

lVhat I claim is:

1. The manufacture of macaroni, consisting of cutting from the forming press a batch of the substance of predetermined length, draping a batch of strands of macaroni over a portable roller, oscillating the roller to spread the strands into a sheet of uniform thickness along the roller, transferring the loaded roller to a cutting apparatus having a plane surface and a gage of nssaoee roller to spread the strands into a sheet of uniform thickness along the roller, holding the sheet against unrolling and transferring the loaded. roller to a plane surface, spreading the sheet of strands in a layer thereon, subjecting the sheets to a drying air draft, and subdividing the strands.

3. The manufacture of macaroni, consisting of cutting from the forming press a batch of the substance of predetermined length, draping a batch of strands of macaroni over a portable roller, oscillating the roller to spread the strands into a sheet of uniform thickness along the roller, transferring the loaded roller to a plane surface, and spreading the sheet of strands in a layer thereon by advancing the roller to transfer the sheet.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

MARTIN E. KRAYBILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

